1001 Albums Summary

The 3 piano ballads put my ass to sleep…. bitch

You can feel the influence oozing off of it. For never having heard the album before, I loved the piss out of it. Standouts: Bone Machine, Break My Body, Gigantic, Where Is My Mind Bonus points for actually having a good sounding 80s snare drum.

Flawless production and instrumentation. One of the few albums that came close to what the Beatles were doing in the mid-late 60’s. I applaud them for being so pro-harpsichord. Having said that, I found the back half to not be as strong as I remembered, with one song I’ve never liked. Standouts: Care of Cell 44, Beechwood Park, Brief Candles, This Will Be Our Year Turd In the Caviar: Butcher’s Tale

Love the raucous party vibe. Would probably enjoy it even more if it was on in the background at Catfish Jones or some other dungeonesque bar. Any time B.B. is yell-singing or banging away on Lucille it is electric! I can only take so much blues though. It gets my hackles up anytime I hear the band start playing the standard I-IV-V 12 bar blues structure. P.S. - This album reminds me of when B.B. and his wife were going through hard times in their marriage. She wasn’t a fan of all his drinking and he thought she was cheating on him. After a couple of hard years, she saw him perform this concert at the Regal and fell back in love with him. As a show of her devotion, she went to get B.B.’s name tattooed on her body: a B on each ass cheek. Later that night she called B.B. up to the bedroom. When he entered, she pulled down her pants for the unveiling. He gave the tattoo a look over and said, “who’s Bob?”

I was ANTicipating this one because I generally like this style of 80s New Wave, but after several listens I just cANT say anything really stuck with me. The avANT garde drumming style is very ANThemic and exciting but gets tiring after so many songs in a row. Definitely leaves you wANTing for something else. Another half point has to be taken off for the weird deep chANTing backing vocals that can be heard in “Dog Eat Dog” and “Feed Me To the Lion”. Despite my ANTagonizing complaints, I did generally enjoy most of the first half of the album. Just gets very repetitive across 12 songs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V67Mx_gu3lU

A bonafide new wave classic. They were able to get this out before cheesy 80s synths took over their sound. Most of these songs have been heard hundreds of times just from existing in the world but they still pack a punch. This album has been described as their greatest hits and it’s not far from the truth. After the diarrhea deluge of Lightning Bolt, it’s gonna be hard to not rate everything else 5 stars in comparison. If you start at You’re All I’ve Got Tonight and cycle back around to Just What I Needed, stopping before tracks 4 and 5, you’ve got a 5 star album! But as it stands, gonna have to go with….

Despite her lofty reputation, this one was not my cup of tea. Did not enjoy the flaccid music. Did not enjoy the overly busy lyrics. It felt like she was singing the same melody in every song. Standout: In France They Kiss On Main Street Worst song by a country mile: The Jungle Line (and its farty-sounding Moog)

Is this the smoothest album ever made? The answer is yes. Two stars are automatically removed for such a heavy use of saxophone, but one star is added back for the thrusty bass playing on the lusty “Cherry Pie”.

An undeniable classic. One of the 20 albums that would be on Mount Phelpsmore.

Janis (aka proto-Robert Plant) is the star of the show here. She could be playing bluesy rock with any number of filthy hippies and it would be the same effect. Luckily the Holding Company has the goods too. Highlights include “I Need a Man to Love”, “Piece of My Fart”, and “Ball and Chain”. Naturally points have to be taken off for including the lazy 12-bar blues “Turtle Blues”. And “Combination of the Two” sounds like it should be exciting but is just a mess.

BDB’s finest hour. Everything is just so damn lush! I wish more albums took these kinds of stylistic leaps — every song has a unique personality. I applaud the inclusion of all the slighter interlude tracks like “Body Rap” and “Bewilderbeast” because they make the more prominent songs around them even more grand. Boner fuel: “Everybody’s Stalking”, “Once Around the Block”, “Cause a Rockslide”, “Epitaph”

An hour of psychedelic nonsense. The only redeeming factor is I never have to hear it again!

Most all the songs are just 30 second loops stretched out to 4 minutes. And it’s just too long. An hour for the base album and an hour for the B-sides (the double album is the only version on Apple Music). Honey and Natural Blues are standouts.

This 51 minutes felt like 5 hours. Too many songs that all have the same warbly, dissonant jazz chords. Not a fan of the man’s singing voice either. I was listening to this on a drive with my wife and when “Uh Uh” came on she said “what the hell are we listening to?” I was nervous for a minute she had developed telepathy because I was thinking the same thing.

This is far from my wheelhouse so i applaud the 1001 list for getting me to branch out. Sadly, I didn’t find this album to be particularly inspiring. Guru doesn’t ever seem to be very interested in what he’s doing. Sounds very one-note through the whole thing. And Premier’s beats don’t ever evolve into anything. The sample just repeats over and over until the song lazily fades out (I counted 12 of the 18 songs had fade outs — the worst way to end a song) I was happy to hear the “Up On Cripple Creek” guitar part in “Beyond Comprehension” but then realized I’d rather just be listening to The Band. But the biggest sin has to be the annoying high-pitched ghostly squeal during the verses of “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?”

After conquering the world with Come On Eileen, Dexys Midnight Runners took on their next challenge: make an album with no good songs on it. Against all odds, they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. As a big fan of 1980s UK rock bands, it’s remarkable how much I didn’t like this. They should’ve taken some of their Eileen money and got this guy some singing lessons. I’m sure he has a very authentic accent from Whereverthefuck, England but it is not pleasing to the ears. The country-tinged “Knowledge of Beauty” might have been passable if they had a good singer on it singing a different melody. Hopefully Warren Zevon sued the piss out of them for “One of Those Things”. I do like thinking that Kid Rock was actually sampling Dexys MR instead of “Werewolves of London”

Is that a herd of buffalo rumbling in the distance? No, it’s just 10 drunken men marching and singing to Land Ho! This is the Doors best album. Nary a stinker to be heard here. Bookended by two badass rockers and filled to the brim with catchy songs. Morrison isn’t quite yet to full blown drunken slurring like he is on LA Woman. The band are always playing interesting parts. You’ll never hear Krieger just strumming the chords to a song. Highlights: Roadhouse Blues, The Spy P.S. PEOPLE DOWN THERE REALLY LIKE TO GET IT ON!!!

Found it serviceable but after a couple listens only a few songs stood out as particularly memorable. Always nice to hear from Mr. Albarn though.

I have to be in the right mood for this kind of music… and today was one of those days. It’s a real ass kicker. The back half of “One” might be the ass kickiest thing they ever did. James and Lars (mostly James) lay down a very tight rhythm section. Having said that, it will never not sound weird to have the bass guitar turned down so low that you can’t hear it (or it’s not there at all). The biggest drawback here is it’s just too long. It’s exhausting to listen to this for over an hour where most of the songs sound pretty samey. Maybe the reason Master of Puppets is the superior album is because it clocks in at a lean 54 minutes. Standouts: “Eye of the Beholder”, “One”

An album loaded up with well-produced pop bang-hers, most of which I am not particularly moved by. Welcome To New York and Style are pretty good. She does have better albums later on so I will be giving this one a…

I’m sure this was the coolest shit ever to a rebellious teen in the 70s, but now these anthems to hard plowing just seem very dorky.

I would love to know what sorcery was used to get such a good sounding album out of 1950s recording equipment (compared to doo wop and early rock of the time) Best vibes for this would be to throw it on in the background of a classy dinner party, something I am not likely to experience personally. The two songs I had already heard (Make Me Feel So Young, Under My Skin) are the best of the batch, while everything else swingingly toes the line.

I’ve always liked how this band pursues each member’s songwriting attempts but in this case they should’ve let Brian May handle most of it (having written the two best songs, “Now I’m Here” and “Stone Cold Crazy”). The cheekiness here is dialed up to 11, and that’s not a good thing. I wonder how many “Bring Back That Leroy Brown” fans got their asses kicked by KISS fans. Every album after this from 1975 to 1980 is much better. I recommend Live From Montreal for this band at their peak. I am leaning towards 2.5 stars here but will round up to 3 to stick it to Ross’s 1 star.

It is impressive that Prince played most all the instruments you hear on this. The guy had some chops! Also impressive that this was recorded analog in 1982, lots of studio trickery going on. This is another case where I was really only able to listen through this once so couldn’t get a good handle on a lot of the deep cuts. All these hour-plus albums are killing me! Best songs: “Little Red Corvette”, “D.M.S.R.”, “Free” Biggest head scratcher: how “Delirious” was a top 10 charting single with that annoying synth lead I will rate this a 3 because I know Purple Rain will be coming later on.

Well performed by all musicians involved but not a very exciting listen.

Doesn’t sound like an album from over 50 years ago — it’s timeless!

Just some fun, rootin’-tootin’ indie rock. I will definitely be coming back to this one. Side note - these guys need someone to help them get better album artwork. Are 12 of their albums are uggos!

I’m sure the musicians involved are at the top of their craft playing the most beautiful Indian music ever created, but this was most certainly not for me. I tried listening intently several times to try and get lost in the vibes and ended up feeling like I was going crazy. Having said that, the santoor seems like it would be a fun instrument to fart around on/master.

This one won me over. Will definitely have to come back to it bc there seems like quite a bit to unpack with such a giant cast of characters. I can’t differentiate between any of the people. Did I just hear ODB or GZA? Who da hell knows! Standouts: “Method Man”, “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin Ta Fuck Wit”

Woooo doggy this was a good one! Stevie really knew how to crank out the classics in the 70s. Standouts: “It Ain’t No Use”, “Bird of Beauty”, “Please Don’t Go”

This pre-Hotel California Eagles is my favorite kind of Eagles - when the focus was more towards performing country-rock with tight harmonies and not towards kicking each others asses. From everything I’ve read about them, Glenn Frey seems like the biggest dickhead to ever walk the planet. I like the story of founding member Bernie Leadon quitting the band by pouring a beer on Glenn’s head. As for this album, the 3 songs that are already radio staples are the best songs, with the deep cuts ranging from adequate to stoinkers. Everything would sound better if the Screaming Man Chorus was yelling along the whole time. The fucking Eagles definitely had some chemistry though. Their version of “Take It Easy” is infinitely more enjoyable than the song’s co-writer Jackson Browne’s version.

Feels like something I should love but it just sounded like a lot of banging around. Will have to revisit this when I get more time to lay with this big bastard.

I mean, c’mon… This is such a step ahead of all the other albums we’ve had so far. I feel bad for ‘em. I suppose I have a bias after having heard this many times over the last 28 years but there’s a reason it has stood the test of time when something like…. The Verve have faded to relative obscurity. Radiohead was taking rock to straaaange new places. This is their peak as a rock band before they started getting overly artsy fartsy and electronic. I considered giving this album the elusive 5.5 stars but after listening to it today I realized that “Climbing Up the Walls” doesn’t really do much for me.

Standouts: “Thelonius”, “A Song For Assata” As someone that is drawn to whatever the bass is doing, these songs got repetitive with the bass looping over and over for the whole song. But every song has some sort of hook that drew my ass in

Zep were untouchable from 69-73. This album is the black sheep/dark horse of the group but i rank it pretty high in my LZ stable. As much as i love hearing these guys rock their balls off (“Immigrant Song”, the incredible singing in “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, the funky-ass drumming Bonham has going on in “Out On the Tiles”), I like how the second side simmers down into acoustic beauties. The only real notes quibble I have here is they should have thrown “Hats Off to Harper” into the nearest dumpster and replaced it with “Hey Hey What Can I Do”, a song that was cut from this album that is better than a good half of it. And I won’t pretend “Celebration Day” and “Out On the Tiles” are up to the standards of their best work. Oh well, they still appropriately ROCK

I went into this a little skeptical because of MJ being a pretty weird fuck later on but I must say I found this to be delightful. It’s loaded up with funky disco treats. I’m going to start living my life like I am constantly strutting along to “Get On The Floor”. I mean, what a song. I made a point to go look who was doing that genius-tier bass playing on it. And “Rock With You” is probably the best song MJ ever did. As I finished the 6th song, McCartney’s cheesy “Girlfriend”, I thought I was on track for an unexpected 5-star review. That all came crashing down with “She’s Out Of My Life”, a sad-sack dirge that grinds the party to a halt. The rest of the album is a step up from that but the whole b-side is just not as strong as the beginning run.

Not many notes here, just a great power-pop punk record. “Pulling Teeth” is an under appreciated gem. The singles are all staples of 90s music. I have no nostalgia for this album and I’ll still give it a…

I must be missing something. This is a very highly regarded album and I just found it to be a bore. Their debut with Nico is a much more interesting listen.

An album chock full of acoustic beauties. Love Cat’s voice. Not much here to make me want to do a return visit but I enjoyed my stay.

As a fan of most things Brit Rock I felt absolutely nothing listening to this. Maybe it was having the most generic singer in the world.

A rare case where the 80s production is not a disastrous failure. The big singles are great, with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” being one of the top 3 pop songs of the 80s. Also enjoyed deep cut “Mothers Talk”. I think I am finding that I just don’t like ballads (“I Believe” and “Listen”).

These guys get a lot of shit but they were really good all through the aughts. Parachutes, Rush of Blood and Viva La Vida are all bonerfied classics. I have heard this countless times over the last 25 years and was still a giddy at getting to hear it again today. Most of this album is fairly restrained n’ sparse considering the stadium bombast they would clumsily go for later on. Standouts: “Don’t Panic”, “Sparks”, “Yellow”

These guys have many classic singles but “Cloud Nine” is not one of them. With that being the tentpole for the album, the whole thing collapses! I can safely say there is not a good song to be found anywhere on this album. “Runaway Child, Running Wild” is especially dumb, and this has to be the worst cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” ever recorded. I think I’m just more of a Four Tops man.

I like it when these guys are just straight-on rocking out but that is few and far on this album. All these dabblings with theatrics and harmonies are done much better later on. Roger Taylor’s ear-splitting castrato harmonies are especially egregious. Standouts: “Father to Son”, “Seven Seas of Rhye”

Not as classic as their previous two albums but still an enjoyable listen. Standouts: “Is She Weird”, “Dig For Fire”, “Havalina”

This feels like the first album of his that actually showcases the guitar virtuoso he was but it is still produced in a muddy fashion like most of his songs. A large chunk of the songs in the middle are pretty disposable but sides A and D are KILLER. I would be happy if “Voodoo Chile” was 15 minutes longer. Some face melting going on there. Also, it must be noted how strange it is to have the two best songs at the very end after an hour of music.

This guy sure has a potty mouth! If you can ignore the lewd, rude n’ crude things he says he does have a good flow and a natural ability for creative rhymes. I would’ve been fine if a good half hour of this had been lobbed off, especially since so many of the songs cover the same topic of people not respecting him enough. I had fun listening to this as a time capsule of pop culture in 2000 but can’t see myself ever coming back. In terms of ranking the rap albums so far on this list, I would much rather listen to this than Gang Starr but Wu Tang is still leading the pack. Standout - “The Real Slim Shady” is a catchy ass song. Mother of God… - “Ken Kaniff”

She has such a lovely voice. Album gets a few points off for being a bit one-note, but it’s a note I enjoy. Sent me down a classic country rabbit hole so I had a good day

It’s fun and funky! I caught my little butt shakin’ on more than one occasion. “All My Friends” is such a late aughts nostalgia blast.

Not a bad song in the bunch, and at least half of which are era-defining anthems. “Teen Spirit” really is a badass song after not hearing it for awhile. Favorites: “Drain You”, “Stay Away” Longstanding nitpick: it’s always brought my piss to a boil how “Breed”, “Territorial Pissings”, and “Stay Away” all have the same drum intro.

Very unique production. When I eventually get my doctorate in music I am gonna write my dissertation on the weird snare drum sound they used in “World In My Eyes”. I usually associate 1990 with a crappy year in music before Nirvana and co. revolutionized things but this is a nice reminder that there are still gems out there to find. Standouts: “World In My Eyes”, “Personal Jesus”, “Policy of Truth” Stinkers: “Sweetest Perfection”, “Blue Dress”

I like this but it’s far from the best album ever made (if the Rolling Stone top 500 list is to be believed). No album can be at the top of any list if one of its songs is “Save the Children”. But if you listen to the amazing title track and it gets you amped up, you can get absorbed in this albums unique sound n’ vision for the brisk run time. Standouts: “What’s Going On”, “Right On”, “Inner City Blues” Outside homework: The Strokes cover of “Mercy Mercy Me”

Lots of stylistic variety. Great singing. Definitely seems worth returning to when there’s more time.

Seems a little fishy that this album was generated just a few days after Nevermind. Naturally, that means they must be pitted against each other. Nevermind is the better all around album but I prefer Ten’s big singles. Pearl Jam sounds like a better band of musicians and Vedder’s dinosaur roar-style or singing is preferably to Kurt. Ten also benefits from having Mike McCready lay down slick guitar solos, while Kurt’s solos usually just follow the verse vocal melody. But, Ten loses the battle because I would say “Oceans”, “Garden”, and “Deep” are all filler tracks and Nevermind is great the whole way through. PJ should’ve swapped two of those songs out for “State of Love and Trust” and “Yellow Ledbetter”.

Hair metal is my least favorite subgenre of rock music — where the singer is telling me how hard I need to ROCK!!!!, where every snare drum hit sounds like a cannon blast. Seriously, I can’t imagine what kind of chaos would ensue if the drummer ever did a drum roll on his snare. This came out early enough in the 80s where I don’t know if this is the grandfather of hair metal, so it gets 1 star for either creating such a terrible (bowel) movement or being a filthy copycat. Lone soft spot: “Photograph”

As my 4-year old says, “oh my jeez”! Where has this gem been hiding? Maybe it never stuck out to me because of the terrible album cover his widow chose. I think every album needs a steel guitar and Emmy Lou Harris harmonies. Standouts: “I Can’t Dance”, “Brass Buttons”, “Love Hurts”, “Ooh Las Vegas”

60’s soul music always goes down smooth, and Aretha is one of the best to ever do it. The only song I would consider taking a star off for is “Niki Hoeky” but everything else is so damn good I couldn’t possibly! Her version of “Natural Woman” is one of the finest songs ever recorded.

A well done performance of a genre I feel nothing for. Her voice got a little annoying to me after awhile.

I like it but pretty middle of the road compared to all the other new wave albums so far on this list. Will keep it in rotation to see if it’s a grower and a shower. “Private Life” sounds like they had the Police come in as the backing band for one song. Standouts: “Kids”, “Private Life”, “Brass In Pocket”

A good selection of originals and covers. Dig the cozy vibes. I consider pretty much all of these to be inferior to their studio cuts. Standouts: “About A Girl”, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”

Sounds very influential for the type of introspective indie that came in the aughts — The Shins, The Decemberists, etc. aka…. My wheelhouse!! Standouts: “Like Dylan In the Movies”, “If You’re Feeling Sinister”

Strange to get Belle and Sabastian 2 days in a row. But that makes this one look inferior compared to Feeling Sinister. Definitely an influential album but feels too slight and DIY.

One of my favorites of his. An album chock full of Dylan classix. Drawbacks are his atonal singing gets a little tiring after a full album, and I can’t forgive sneaking on a boring 12-bar blues song (“Meet Me In the Morning”). Standouts: “Simple Twist of Fate”, “Shelter From the Storm”, “Buckets of Rain”

A classic in my eyes! I’ve always been more of a Mellon Collie man but this is still essential listening. Only quibbles are his vocals are too hard to understand a lot of the time and “Spaceboy” doesn’t really need to be on here.

Obviously “Waterloo Sunset” is an incredible song but everything else on here is expendable and forgettable.

Half classic singles and half meh filler tracks. I truly think I’m going to lose my mind if I have to hear one more boring 12-bar blues song on a classic rock album, and this album has 4 of them! “Travelin Band” gets a pass because it’s badass, but “Before You Accuse Me”, “Ooby Dooby” and “My Baby Left Me” are about as low effort as it gets. But, an album that has Travelin Band, Lookin Out My Back Door, Run Through the Jungle, Up Around the Bend, Who’ll Stop the Rain, and Heard It Through the Grapevine literally ain’t half bad.

Too much skank for me to handle. Throwing an extra star on because I love “Stir It Up”. I was in the Dominican a decade ago and it seemed like every building you walked by, that song was playing. Really got me in the island mood.

As a fan of his FutureSex/LoveSounds album, I was curious about this one. Unfortunately, on his solo debut it sounds like he is doing a shit-ass Michael Jackson impression the whole time. Having said that, despite some douche baggy lyrics I can’t deny a few of these songs are catchy. “Cry Me A River” and “Rock Your Body” get my hearty endorsement.

This seems like something I would’ve gotten lost in if I’d heard it when it first came out. But as a grizzled old man…. it’s good. Lob 15 minutes off this runtime and you’ve got a HIT!!!

A mostly well done “later” BB album. I have to imagine this sounded pretty dorky compared to all the other cool stuff coming out in 1971. Standouts: “Long Promised Road”, “Disney Girls”, “Surf’s Up”

A serviceable pop punk album. I enjoyed all the songs but nothing got me hootin’ and hollerin’ with excitement.

Sounds like it was recorded in the bathroom. I have made better sounding recordings on GarageBand with one mic and zero idea of what I’m doing. But “Shadowplay” is gloriously moody and broody.

I’ll be damned… shit’s good!

This is one of my favorite bands but they ain’t perfect! All of the Police’s albums are marred by the inclusion of a couple stoinkers. Seems like they should’ve dropped “On Any Other Day” and “Contact” and they just might’ve squeaked out a 5-star review. Half the fun of listening to these guys is listening to all the unusual drum parts Stuart Copeland comes up with for every song. It seems like he is hearing them for the first time as they record them. Standouts: “Message In A Bottle”, “Reggatta De Blanc”, “It’s Alright For You”, “Bring On The Night”, “Walking On The Moon”, “The Bed’s Too Big Without You”

As a big time Brucer, this album is being rated on a separate Bruce scale. In the pantheon of Bruce, this is his best post-Tunnel of Love album by a country mile (only competitor really is Letter To You) Downsides are it’s about 20-30 minutes too long, there are too many slow songs, and the production feels just a little too slick.

What can I say? I love this fucker! For some reason this cheese ball affair was the coolest thing to me when I was 18. Big fat guitar riffs and generous usage of the word FUCK will have that effect on a young lad. Listening now, I wish there was maybe 20% less falsetto singing. Highlights: “Black Shuck”, “Growing On Me”, “Givin’ Up”, “Friday Night”

• If you’re looking for sloppy harmonies, you’ve come to the right place. • “Tears of Rage” is one of my favorite album openers. • I don’t much care for Richard Manuel as a lead vocalist. Should’ve had Helm do it all. Standouts: “Tears of Rage”, “The Weight”, “Chest Fever”

For every stellar “Hear Comes Your Man”, “Monkey Gone To Heaven” and “Gouge Away”, there is throwaway filler like “Dead”, “Crackity Jones” and “Silver”. Also, Black Francis’s weird singing style gets old.

Never really understood the lost masterpiece narrative around this album. It ain’t got nothin on Pet Sounds.

One star off for trying to nag at me about eating delicious meat.

Unfortunate case where the singles are all the best songs.

I’m sure Mr. Shadow is a nice fellow but this was just repetitive nonsense.

I like classic country a decent amount but this was a fairly boring listen. Willie needed to crank out a few more hits or something!

Way too sleepy for my taste. Production was too slick, felt like I was listening to Bruce’s The Rising. Nice to hear Dave Matthews show up though.

Overall some glammy goodness! “Mambo Sun” sounds like Brothers-era Black Keys, aka when they were good. Highlights: “Bang a Gong”, “Life’s a Gas”, “Rip Off”

I’ve given 1’s before but never quite this passionately.